❝ Mostly these days, especially since the pandemic, I only want happy endings. I only want a story that gives me something that matters to look forward to. 

[…]

I want to feel something, yes. I want to feel all the things, in fact—including surprise. I want the details of a story to be endlessly surprising. My greatest hope when I start reading a new story is that it will take my heart on a Tilt-A-Whirl carnival ride of every single possible emotion along the way. But—and this is essential—by the end … I want us all to be okay. Better than okay, if possible. So for me, as a reader, getting the “spoiler” that the main characters in a love story will end up together just makes me want to read the story more. Maybe it’s the opposite of a spoiler. What would that even be called? An enhancer, maybe? I think those of us who love love stories are junkies for that joyful, blissed-out feeling of anticipating the happily ever after that’s a guarantee of the genre. All genres have their guarantees, by the way: Sleuths will solve the mystery, thriller heroes will defuse the bomb in the nick of time, superheroes will vanquish the villains at last. Part of what we like about the genres we like is the anticipation of those guarantees. We like to see the mystery solved, and the hero triumphant, and the villains vanquished. It feels good. Nothing wrong with feeling good, right? I suspect people who really love literary fiction have a higher tolerance for the feeling of having no idea where a story is headed. Maybe they even like that feeling? That’s fine. That’s cool. It takes all kinds of readers to make the world go round.

[…]

“Why Love Stories Are Criminally Underrated.” 

[…]

What better thing is there to write about than love? Love’s the best thing humans ever invented. It’s our crowning achievement as a species. 

[…]

Love is good for your health. For real. Google it! Falling in love bolsters your immune system. Love soothes anxiety, prevents colds, mitigates depression, lessens pain, and promotes healing. New studies on the biochemistry of love show that experiencing loving feelings lowers stress. It counteracts the production of cortisol in the body, and it strengthens the vagus nerve—which calms and regulates mood, heart rate, digestion, and inflammation. This isn’t just some half-true nonsense that floated through my Instagram feed, by the way. I looked up the studies! This is real. You can add “reading romance novels in the bubble bath” to your self-care list, along with yoga, and laughter, and balancing your circadian rhythm.

[…]

We need love to flourish—like we need air, and food, and water.

[…]

Because stories exist to make us feel things. A really well-done story of any kind makes you believe it’s real. The best stories make you forget you’re reading at all—and the boundaries between you and the characters dissolve. You empathize so hard that you step into the shoes—even climb into the skin—of those people. Their story becomes your story. It’s happening all around you—and to you.

[…]

And if it’s a love story? If it’s a romance? Even better. Because now you’re syncing up with many kinds of emotions—but the main ones, the big ones, are positive. You’re syncing up with joy, and kindness, and admiration—and you’re experiencing genuine human connection. Well-done love stories give you the feeling of being in love. Your brain makes it real—and shifts your biochemistry in warm, connected, healthy directions.

[…]

There’s a reason we love reading love stories. They’re good for us. Don’t let anyone ridicule you away from bringing all the love into your life that you can. In every possible way.

[…]

What better thing is there to write about than love? Love’s the best thing humans ever invented. It’s our crowning achievement as a species.❞

One of the hottest, fastest-rising rom-com stars delivers her latest swoon-worthy novel about a destination wedding on a cruise ship.

After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. With the help of a little pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest ), and she decides to woo him during the cruise for some long-delayed closure. Only problem is, her sister’s a little busy being a bride at the moment—so JoJo ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, to be her wing man. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but then showed up, anyway. Cooper: who left town without a word four years earlier and moved to London. Cooper: who was, if she’s honest, the worst heartbreak of JoJo’s life. It’s bliss for her to see him again, and it’s agony, too—and the more they team up for Project Conquest, the more she obsesses over questions she can’t bring herself to ask.

Shipboard antics ensue in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance—as JoJo and Cooper fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, treat sunburns, get jealous, rescue each other over and over, and finally, at last, figure it all out in the most blissful, swoony, romantic way.

No one does summer romance quite like Katherine Center. THE SHIPPERS will take readers on the cruise of a lifetime in a story awash with romantic longing, top-notch banter, long-held secrets . . . and true love rediscovered.

Goodreads | Amazon